How to select the best WordPress plugins?

If you are a beginner, then WordPress plugins will make this CMS more interesting for you. The only problem is that there are over 30,000 plugins available and it can get very hard to choose the right ones. Let’s suppose you are running an e-commerce WordPress website and you are about to choose some WooCommerce plugins, here is the criterion that you should keep in mind to select the best ones:

Examine your needs

Before you begin the search, it is important to determine what you want the plugin for. To make it easy, jot down what you are looking for. This is going to save you time and money.

Know where to search the plugin from

You will find free as well as premium plugins. Before you limit yourself, you must know that there are lots of marketplaces to look for plugins. Your first stop should be WordPress’s official directory. You will find lots of options there. Then you can look for independent publishers who are selling custom made WordPress plugins on their own websites (but keep it last in your list of options). There are other repositories to look for too such asCodeCanyon, WordPress Eden, and Creative market.

It is recommended not to go outside of the official repository to look for plugins. Buying from third party sites can be a wrong move since such plugins may contain dangerous codes that can ruin your whole website.

Keep WordPress Security in mind

If you select a poorly coded plugin, its consequences can be huge. Most of the WordPress websites get hacked because of the security issue in the plugin. So what should you do to protect yourself against such issues? Easy, just look at when the plugins was last updated. Only choose those plugins that are updated frequently and that can be used on the latest version of WordPress. Hackers are pretty with similar with the security loopholes in the plugins that aren’t updated.

Check the support for the plugins

If you are choosing premium plugins, you will get amazing support from the staff. That’s exactly the kind of support you need for the plugins. Whatever question or concern you have, it will be addressed quickly. When it comes to the support for free plugins, you can find answers for the questions on the forums only. This type of support may be sufficient for some problems, but you will not get personalized support which is available if you choose premium plugins.

You will know that if something goes wrong, you will get instant help. The developer might even log into your website to check for certain issues. This type of support is not available in case of free plugins.

Check the number of downloads

Look at the number of times the WordPress plugin was downloaded. If the number of downloads are high, that means it is popular. On the other hand, a plugin which is downloaded a few times only should not be chosen. Plugins only become popular when they are maintained well, have a few issues and work exactly the way it is said.

Search for the plugin in YouTube

If the plugin is not new, then you will find lots of videos about it on YouTube explaining its features and usage. These videos are published by the developers themselves who have used the plugins and reviewed them for other people.

Test the plugin yourself

Let’s say you have chosen the plugin but before uploading it to your WordPress website, test it locally. it only possible to test it if you have a staging site. If the plugin does not work or it is not compatible with the theme of your WordPress website, then you should don’t go for it, of course.

Follow blogs that post about WordPress

You will come across hundreds of such blogs that cover different aspects of WordPress. look for the ones run by professionals to get honest reviews. They have tested different plugins, written reviews and made comparisons. This could help you not just search for an appropriate plugin for your website, but find out how it works.

Is it worth it to buy a premium plugin?

Can’t decide whether you should buy a premium?Well, that totally depends on you. Many a times, premium plugins are worth it because you get to use advanced features and you enjoy good customer support.

After landing on the right plugin, just install it on your WordPress website. If everything goes well, then give back to the community by posting a review about the plugin.